Why I chose this video?
I chose this video to analyse and write about because I think Jay-Z is one of the many very influential artists we have. Although in their own right, every artist has their own influences on the world, I think Jay-Z is one level above the rest. He manages to influence people with his life, his background, his music, however, he still manages to keep his privacy and a track on his life. This cant be said for a lot of other artists who brag or talk about every aspect of their lives in order to keep a fan base. Also, this video is very different to many others. It has no structure, its made up of different scenarios and images and illusions. Its edgy, and some may say even a little scary, so I thought it would be an interesting video to use.
Textual Analysis
This video was filmed in a studio with different scenarios on each set, collectively put together to make this video. There is no narrative story behind this video. It is very abstract. The scenarios are all very different, each setting has a different prop ranging from bottles of milk to cars. Other props include dice, basketballs, and birds. Noticeably the props are all black and white, as is the video. The white could suggest the purity behind jay-z's music as he writes about his own life, nothing is false. The black could suggest the controversy behind this video as some critics may say it exhibits his devil worshipping side. The people in this video are all dressed extravagantly, a step away from everyday clothing.
The establishing shot is of 2 lights, that are unlit. However, as soon as they turn on, the camera suddenly cuts to show jay-z. This indicates his power within music and the video.
The camera tends to show each prop close up and then zooming out. This shows the prop in a different angle to what you think it might be, and then what it actually is when shown fully. I think they did this to add a little mystery to the video. They have used low angles when showing the dancers. As if we are looking up at them, like they have power over us while we watch.
The editing for this video is very clean. There are sharp cuts from one image to the next, however it doesn't alarm you, after the first few seconds of watching the video, you almost expect to see an image change every other second to the fast paced beat. This is known as 'superimpose'. A blended mix of different images. Also, they have edited some lyrics onto a black background within the video.
Genre
Jay-Z's music is named as hip-hop. This is a fast paced hip hop song. It has a different feel to most rap songs, as it has more of a rhythm and beat to it. This song has over 21 million hits on youtube, showing that it has a huge fan base, even with the new beats.
Audience
Stereotypically some would say the audience to this song would be black males. However I disagree. I think Jay-Z has a wider fan base than most would think. The fact that Jay-Z performed at glastonbury 2010, shows his versatility to perform for any audience. Also the fact that this song has a different sound to most hip hop songs, shows that he can attract different people to his music.
Form
This video I think is abstract, but well thought out. Its not just images put together with no meaning. I believe it has a meaning to jay-Z and he has carefully selected the props to match his song. There is some element of a performance, with the dancers and also jay-z himself in the video however it is mostly abstract.
Context
This video was directed by 'Sam Brown'. He has also directed videos for james blunt and the foo fighters. When Brown made this video, he was hit by a load of questions about whether the video was backed by illuminati. To put it in simple terms, illuminati is a global elite who have a bond of seeking the powers of their mind. When asked if the video had anything to do with this, Brown replied 'There is imagery in this video that is drawn from all over the place. None of it is owned by any one culture or belief system. You can connect anything if you try hard enough, and make it mean anything you want it to'.
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